On a personal note my 17th birthday was ten days after this gig and a week after this performance is when I first experienced the Avalon . I honestly have no idea who the performers were-probably Big Bother-who were becoming the house band at Chet Helm's operation. My cohorts and I had scored some weed from a co-worker and we were high as a kite when we got to Van Ness and ready for anything. And "anything" is what we got from the people doing art with fluorescent chalk on the floor and the lovely "hippie chicks" waltzing around and the interacting with the collective ambiance and the bands created a friendly vibe of everybody experiencing something not done before. Psychedelic! We were loaded but the experienced folks were "flying high" as Country Joe would say later on. I played with the chalk under the black lights, talked to some people, smoked the weed I brought with me with folks and had one of the all time great experiences in my young life-and I knew and my friends knew we were on to something really special. All this is a prelude to Cohen's boot leg, 'Vintage Dead", I picked up some years later. It reminded me very much of the entire vibe the Avalon presented to a new comer to a new scene. It's funny: Garcia was quoted early on that he didn't believe the actual experience of a performance could be captured on acetate, but on this particular recording-for me any how-this comes awfully damn close. I can still feel-yeah, feel-that vibe in some sense from a week after this performance when I first tasted the cuisine of the Avalon and would have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner until 1970 or so. (Being a student at SF State made it easy). And for me that's magic and only the collective consciousness and unconsciousness can get close to something so real and special. I saw the Dead a few months before Garcia checked out in Portland-and tagging along with friends who were true blue Dead Heads for many years (I wasn't) I was absolutely amazed at the community that had grown around the Dead. The diversity was incredible, the sense of community was exactly reminiscent of that night on Sept. 23, 1966. And that my friend is real magic and we are all truly privileged to have seen such an adventure tie people together for so long. Even though Jerry's not around, the torch carried on by Lesh and Weir is still bright and if one is able to open up, it can still invigorate your mind. The torch still glows quite brightly and this album carries some real illumination yet still at . Transformation was for free then and can still be had in some sense by the tapes done by Owsley and others. Magic is still alive.

Much much confusion, but the first 5 tracks are probably from this date (from Vintage Dead). The next 4 tracks (from Historic Dead) could also be from this date, but maybe not!

Great stuff here. Jerry and Ron both tearing it up in It Hurts Me Too. Bobby's grown a good sound since I last noticed. They have a great audience also... Keeps pushing them in the right direction. They got some other real original versions of certain songs. Midnight Hour 18 min. GMLSG 11 min. On FIRE!!! Oh, and Lindy's a nice tune... Reminds me of an old New Orleans Ragtime/Pixar movie song. And The Same Thing holds resemblance to Little Red Rooster... Inspiration perhaps?

Wow, what a great version of this song. Pigpen rocks this one. I've heard this similar pigpen rap in Lovelight.

Sound quality is great as well. There is a little white noise but for a recording from 43 year ago it sounds amazing.

thanks for the upload!

Excellent show, excellent quality. Quite a significant upgrade to the version floating around for years. Maybe one less generation? It's amazing to think that this was recorded over 42 years ago! Very good for a '66, although not quite as good as 5/19 or 11/19, sound-wise. Performance-wise, it's definitely up there. Worth it for the Midnight Hour alone. Vintage Pigpen! Plus, early Rider's are always a treat.

I really only comment on 5 star shows, and this is one of the best '66 shows, imho. Plus, the upgraded sound really warranted a remark.

Back in the late 1970's I had a roommate who had two bootleg LPs ("Vintage Dead" and "Historic Dead") of this show (maybe two shows). I've been working my way listening to every 1966 show here at Archive, and rediscovered this show. What a find.

Having now heard some two dozen '66 shows, I can say that this is one of the best of year. The playing is tight, vocals are better than many 1966 shows. Even Bob sounds good, which he often didn't in '66. Jerry's soloing is great, particularly in the Dancing in the Streets Jam. Shades of the greatness to come, but also great in its own right.

There are some flaws. I love Pigpen, but Midnight Hour and Schoolgirl are a little long here. I also wish Viola Lee was in this show But there's plenty else here to warrant 5 stars.

This recording is a little clipped (buzzy) on some songs, but mostly good audio.

There another instance of this show here at Archive.org with the songs in a different order:
http://www.archive.org/details/gd66-09-16.sbd.vernon.9127.sbeok.shnf